The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

ASOTIN - The Dayton Bulldogs volleyball team placed third in district after losing in three against the Asotin Panthers but beating the DeSales Irish in four this weekend. Dayton placed after number one Tri-Cities Prep and number two Asotin.

The Lady Dogs move on to regionals in Pasco, where they face the Davenport team from District 7 in a 9 a.m. game at Chiawana High School on Saturday.

"The girls are ready for the challenge," head coach Shannon Turner said. "It's always good to be one of the teams to go on. They're pumped about that. But we'll have to be on our best game."

On the road to regionals, the Lady Dogs fell to Asotin 17-25, 19-25, 20-25. But they were victorious over their Walla Walla rivals 25-22, 15- 25, 25-13, 25-19.

Asotin, which Dayton was unable to subdue in its two league encounters during the season, dominated the net, Turner said. "That made the difference."

The head coach said her team was "close," shrinking the points deficit with each set, "they were a lot stronger offensively."

In the match against the Panthers, Madison Mings logged 6 kills, 5 blocks and 9 digs. Chelsea Wooldridge had 12 assists and 15 digs, serving 4 out of 6 from the line. Lexi Ramirez served 13 for 14, had 3 kills and 9 digs, while Jenna Phillips registered 14 digs, 11 for 11 serving, 2 aces, 2 kills, 1 block and 14 digs. Courtney Mings had 8 digs and 7/7 from the line.

With the jitters out of the way in the game against Asotin, the Bulldogs took the court against the Irish, whom Dayton beat in its two league encounters.

"We stepped it up," she said. "We were more aggres­sive on the net and passed the ball a lot better."

In the Lady Dogs' win over DeSales, Madison Min­gs had 15 kills, 16 digs, and 5 blocks while serving 10/12. Ramirez had 2 aces, 4 kills and 14 digs, while go­ing 15 out of 17 in serving. Wooldridge had 34 assists, 10 digs, 1 kill and 12/14 on the line. Courtney Mings had 9 kills, 10 digs and was a per­fect 12 for 12 serving. Sarah Phillips helped her team with 20 digs and 9 for 9 serving.

Turner said Dayton "sizes up well" with Davenport, which she described as "a tough team."

The Lady Dogs will have to pass the ball well, run a scrappy offense, "pick up everything and make a play out of it," the head coach said. "Anything can happen during the playoffs."

In this weekend's double- elimination round, Dayton faces the winner of the TCP- Lind-Ritzville game if they win and the loser of that game if they lose.